International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion On Western Sahara - Results

Results

The opinion of the Court was interpreted differently by the different parties, and each focused on what it sees as supporting its claims.

While Morocco and Mauritania found in the answers to the two questions a recognition that their claims are legitimate and historically based, Algeria and the Polisario Front focused on the penultimate paragraph that stated that the court's decision was not to hinder the application of self-determination through the ongoing Spanish referendum.

King Hassan II declared the organisation of a peaceful march to force Spain to start negotiations on the status of the territory, to which Spain finally agreed. A round of talks between Spain, Morocco and Mauritania were held in Madrid and culminated in a tripartite agreement, becoming known as the Madrid Accords On November 16, 1975, where Spain formally ceded the administration of the northern two thirds of the territory to Morocco, while the southern third was to be administrated by Mauritania. Algeria protested the agreement, and president Boumedienne retaliated by expelling all Moroccans living in Algeria. The text of the Madrid Accords have never been made public record.

In consequence, the Court's decisions were largely disregarded by the interested parties. On October 31, 1975 the first Moroccan troops invaded Western Sahara from the north-east. Algeria sent its troops into the territory of Western Sahara to help in the logistic of the evacuation of the Sahrawi refugees who have been bombarded by Moroccan air forces, which led to the first and last direct military confrontation between units of the Moroccan armed forces and the Algerian national army in the First Battle of Amgala (1976). The Algerian army suffered hundreds of deaths and more than a hundred soldiers were made prisoners by the Moroccan army. Diplomatic intervention from Saudi Arabia and Egypt prevented the situation from escalating further.

Spain's last soldier departed the territory on February 26, 1976. The next day, the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic was declared by Polisario representatives. Morocco intensified their military presence in the region, and by the end of the year, Mauritania and Morocco had partitioned the territory. Mauritania was too weak militarily and economically to compete against Polisario, though, and were forced to renounce their claims in 1979. Morocco immediately annexed that territory in addition. To this day, most of Western Sahara is administered by Morocco, but its sovereignty has not been recognized by the UN or any country. At the same time, 81 governments have recognized the Sahrawi Republic as the legitimate government of Western Sahara.